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Discussion on: Why is Linux Not More Popular on the Desktop?

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zk profile image
zk

The biggest reason IMO are apps not having a Linux version. Users are hard-pressed to switch to Linux if they can't run their Windows app.

What the world needs is some sort of container for desktop applications. Developers should be able to code in whatever language they want and ship it as cross-platform by default.

The OS vendors should team up and make a standard API to enable containerized desktop apps. This way the desktop world can stay afloat in the cloud-native era, where webapps are becoming more capable than before.

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shawnhansen profile image
Shawn Hansen

So, Electron?

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rhymes profile image
rhymes

Hope not. Imagine having 10-15 apps all self contained Chrome browsers :D

Maybe if they shared the same runtime... like an operating system ;-)

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zk profile image
zk

Correct me if I'm wrong but AFAIK Electron is JS/HTML/CSS only. Meaning you can't do apps that require special runtimes/engines/dependencies e.g., Photoshop / Video editors / Advanced 3D games or anything that requires a native desktop?

What I think is missing is a "Docker" for these kinds of apps.